Let the news storm begin. For those thirsting for more information on the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee, a few recommendations:
Watch Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program, weigh in on Democracy Now! — Environmental Groups See Divide over Landmark Climate, Energy Bill Weakened by Industry Lobbying
Greg Harman at the San Antonio Current takes Charlie Gonzalez to task for his efforts to weaken ACES (look for a cameo quote from our very own Andy Wilson, Global Warming Program Director here at the Texas office — Gonzalez bombs climate change bill
The Washington Post’s business column op-ed: Climate-Change Bill Hits Some of the Right Notes but Botches the Refrain
The Economist breaks down the Handouts and loopholes
And to close out, words from the President:
I commend Chairman Waxman and the Members of the Energy and Commerce Committee for a successful effort to pass a comprehensive energy and climate bill out of their committee today. We are now one step closer to delivering on the promise of a new clean energy economy that will make America less dependent on foreign oil, crack down on polluters, and create millions of new jobs all across America. The bill is historic for what it achieves, providing clean energy incentives that encourage innovation while recognizing the concerns of sensitive industries and regions in this country. And this achievement is all the more historic for bringing together many who have in the past opposed a common effort, from labor unions to corporate CEOs, and environmentalists to energy companies. I applaud the committee for its action and look forward to signing comprehensive legislation.
Posted in Global Warming | Tagged ACES, america, american clean energy and security act, charlie gonzalez, climate change, Democracy Now!, economist, Energy, environmental groups, Global Warming, Greg Harman, house energy and commerce committee, hr 2454, industry lobbying, Markey, president obama, Public Citizen, san antonio current, Texas, tyson slocum, Washington Post, Waxman |
Public Citizen disappointed by process as Big Money works to weaken, kill bill
Statement by Andy Wilson, Global Warming Program Director, Texas Office
This evening, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed HR 2454, The American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES or ACESA), sponsored by Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Ed Markey (D-MA), by a margin of 33 – 25.
We would like to thank Gene Green (D-Houston) and Charlie Gonzalez (D-San Antonio) for their support of this step towards clean energy and saving the climate from runaway global warming. It is unfortunate, however, that they chose to weaken the energy efficiency and renewable energy sections of the bill, as stronger mandates would mean more local jobs and more savings for Texans.
They also supported giving away billions of dollars worth of carbon credits to polluters for free, despite knowing that these giveaways hurt low income households the most.
Big money was the deciding factor in this process, with the energy industry donating a total of $3.1 million on all members of the Energy and Commerce Committee in the 2008 campaign cycle, with nearly $2.3 million of that going to committee Republicans, who presented nearly monolithic opposition to the bill and attempted to weaken it at every turn. Ranking member Joe Barton (R-TX) received $406,887 in campaign contributions from the energy industry, the largest amount of any member on the panel, and orchestrated the GOP opposition. Notable opposition to the bill came from Jim Matheson (D-UT), who received $103,097, Charlie Melancon (D-LA), who received $125,100, John Barrow (D-GA) who received $88,743, and Mike Ross (D-AR) who received $59,800. The first three of these received more money from the energy industry than any other Democrats on the panel, while Ross was the fifth largest recipient among Democrats.
The architects of the compromises which weakened the bill also received large contributions from the energy industry, including Rick Boucher (D-VA) who received $67,300 and was the architect of the plan to give coal-fired electric utilities nearly all of their pollution credits for free. A similar deal was struck with oil refineries, whose donations to Gene Green (D-TX) and Charlie Gonzalez (D-TX) along with other energy industries was equal to $84,500 and $51,250, respectively.
Unfortunately, the bill leaves the committee weaker than it came in. It has moved to a short term reduction of CO2 emissions of only 17%, even though the research by the Nobel Prize winning IPCC shows that target needs to be closer to 30%. This bill is also potentially a budget buster, as it has moved away from President Obama’s original position of auctioning all of the pollution credits to giving away credits worth billions in revenue to industry for free. By giving away 85% of all carbon credits to industry, the Congress has also limited their ability to help low-income consumers and invest in efficiency, renewable energy, and international programs to aid lesser developed countries. Furthermore, they have added unlimited loan guarantees to the nuclear industry, even though the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has stated that it is likely that more than 50 percent of all nuclear loans will fail. The loan guarantees would be used to
Even worse, by giving away too many credits to special interests, we will repeat the mistakes of the European carbon market, where too many credits were given away at the outset and actual carbon reductions did not occur. Utilities still passed on “compliance costs” to their customers and prices increased, which led to the EPA’s analysis of the Waxman-Markey draft that any giveaways to industries are “highly regressive.”
A well designed cap and invest program with strong efficiency and renewable energy standards would save the average Texas household $900 per year according to a study by the Union of Concerned Scientists. We fear that by weakening the bill, as the Energy and Commerce Committee has, this savings could evaporate.
Now that the committee process has ended, it is now the responsibility of every Texas Representative to strengthen HR 2454. The bill needs to move back to scientifically and economically based goals in order to protect consumers and create a green jobs future for every family in the country.
Posted in Global Warming | Tagged ACES, allowances, american clean energy and security act, andy wilson, cap and trade, carbon credits, Carbon Dioxide, charlie gonzalez, charlie melancon, climate change, ed markey, energy and commerce committee, EPA, Gene Green, giveaways, Global Warming, government accountability office, green jobs, henry waxman, hr 2454, ipcc, jim matheson, Joe Barton, john barrow, mike ross, president obama, rick boucher, Texas, union of concerned scientists |
Bad news from the big pink dome. Looks like two of our key bills to promote solar power this session, SB 545 (Fraser/Strama) and SB 541 (Watson/Farabee) are getting stuck in the gummy gears of the legislative process. These bills have both made it through committee and the Senate, but still need to be voted on by the House. Unfortunately, they may never make it that far due to the tremendous power of a little group called the House Committee on Calendars.
At this point, Calendars has an incredible amount of power over what bills will make it to become laws this session. There are now just ten days left before sine die, and hundreds of bills left waiting to go to the House floor. Calendars is like the legislative bouncer at this point, only letting certain skinny, sexy, well-dressed bills into the club.
SB 545 has yet to come out of Calendars, and SB 541 hasn’t even made it onto the list yet. If 541 isn’t at least on the list by tomorrow, it is dead. If 545 hasn’t made it from the list and into the club by Sunday, it’ll be the bill’s last chance to shine.
You think old Bill had it had it bad, at least he didn’t have a Calendars committee to hold him up.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouZTIqcvb30]
House Reps on the Calendars committee need to hear that these bills are necessary to jump-start Texas’ solar future. If one of the following members is YOUR representative, please give them a call today and tell them that you want these solar bills moved up the calendar and out to the dance House floor!!
Rep. Brian McCall (Chair) — (512) 463-0594
Rep. Eddie Lucio III (Vice Chair) — (512) 463-0606
Rep. Norma Chavez — (512) 463-0622
Rep. Garnet Coleman — (512) 463-0524
Rep. Byron Cook — (512) 463-0730
Rep. Brandon Creighton — (512) 463-0726
Rep. Charlie Geren — (512) 463-0610
Rep. Jim Keffer — (512) 463-0656
Rep. Lois W. Kolkhorst — (512) 463-0600
Rep. Jim McReynolds — (512) 463-0490
Rep. Allan Ritter — (512) 463-0706
Rep. Burt R. Solomons — (512) 463-0478
Note: Word on the street is that the Calendars committee has locked its door and taken the phone off the hook. How’s that for open government? This shouldn’t keep you from calling individual members though, their offices will still be answering the phone.
Posted in Energy, Renewables | Tagged Allan Ritter, Brandon Creighton, Brian McCall, Burt R. Solomons, byron cook, Charlie Geren, conference committee, Eddie Lucio III, Edmund Kuempel, farabee, fraser, Garnet Coleman, Jim Keffer, Jim McReynolds, Lois W. Kolkhorst, Norma Chavez, pink dome, Renewables, sb 541, sb 545, sine die, solar, solar power, strama, Texas, texas house, Texas Legislature, texas senate, watson |
Excellent news from San Antonio!
One: According to a new poll by the Willie Velasquez Institute, the majority of Texans are in favor of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACESA), the big cap and trade bill currently being debated in Congress.
Two: Latino leaders and organizations in San Antonio have formed a coalition called Tejanos for a Better Future to promote climate change mitigation and adaptation from a Latino perspective.
Hope Texas leadership **cough, cough Charlie Gonzalez and Gene Green** is listening because it looks as if ACESA will be voted out of committee tonight, and these Congressmen’s’ opportunity to hold heavy sway over this legislation is fast reaching an end.
WCVI Calls for Congressmen Green and Gonzalez to Vote for Landmark Climate Change Bill
San Antonio, TX – The William C. Velasquez Institute (WCVI) recently completed a flash poll of registered voters in Texas Congressional Districts 20 and 29 and the preliminary findings imply strong support for the landmark Climate Change bill, American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACESA).
WCVI, which held Latino Leadership meetings in San Antonio and Los Angeles on April 25th and in Houston on May 21st to discuss this bill, is urging community members to contact Representative Charlie Gonzalez’s and Gene Green’s Offices to support the bill. As members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, they hold important swing votes, which could be scheduled as soon as today.
Further, WCVI, along with other Latino leaders, have formed Tejanos for a Better Future, a coalition of leaders and organizations in San Antonio. Its goal is to promote climate change mitigation and adaptation from a Latino/Hispanic perspective.
“The climate crisis will disproportionately impact Latinos. ACESA, now being discussed in Congress will create new economic opportunities for our community through green jobs and a new green economy.” said Antonio Gonzalez, WCVI President.
Preliminary survey data shows 58% of voters support the ACESA. An overwhelming 87% of voters want to see Texas increase its production and use of renewable energy and 95% want to see the state become more energy efficient. And finally, 55% of voters believe green house gases can be reduced while creating economic opportunities and jobs at the same time.
Added Gonzalez, “The work of Tejanos for a Better Future is very timely with the climate change legislation moving through the US House of Representatives this week. This bill is vital to our planet and to Latinos, and we have high expectations that Congressmen Gonzalez and Green will support a strong bill that protects the environment and our community.”
WCVI plans to hold additional Climate Change briefings in Arizona, California and Texas. For more information, call 210-922-3118 or visit www.wcvi.org.
Posted in Global Warming | Tagged acesa, american clean energy and security act, arizona, California, cap and trade, charlie gonzalez, Congress, Gene Green, house energy and commerce, latino leadership, los angeles, San Antonio, tejanos for a better future, Texas, wcvi, willie velasquez institute |
A message from Public Citizen, SEED Coalition, and Environment Texas:
Your help is needed right away to put energy efficiency into place!
Please call or email your city councilmember today to tell them you support STEP – the new energy efficiency program for San Antonio!
Tomorrow, San Antonio City Council will decide on how CPS Energy can fund their energy efficiency programs known as STEP (Save for Tomorrow Energy Plan). CPS Energy has set a goal to save 771 Megawatts of power through energy efficiency programs by 2020. This would be one of the most aggressive efficiency goals in the country and we support it!
Energy efficiency is the cheapest energy resource CPS Energy can invest in. By spending money on weatherizing low income homes and providing rebates for people to purchase high efficiency appliances, CPS avoids having to purchase more expensive energy that would cost everyone more. In addition, people who take advantage of these programs will begin saving money on their utility bills immediately, offsetting the cost of the programs!
Call or email your city councilmember today to tell them:
-I support energy efficiency and urge you to approve STEP
-I want public accountability for these programs through quarterly reporting including information such as the amount of money spent on and energy saved from each program
-I want to be sure that CPS spends the money they collect for STEP on energy efficiency and solar rebates, not for other purposes like coal or nuclear plants!
Mayor Phil Hardberger (210) 207-7060 phardberger@sanantonio.gov
District 1 Mary Alice P. Cisneros (210) 207-7279 district1@sanantonio.gov
District 2 Sheila D. McNeil (210) 207-7278 district2@sanantonio.gov
District 3 Jennifer V. Ramos (210) 207-7064 district3@sanantonio.gov
District 4 Philip A. Cortez (210) 207-7281 district4@sanantonio.gov
District 5 Lourdes Galvan (210) 207-7043 district5@sanantonio.gov
District 6 Delicia Herrera (210) 207-7065 district6@sanantonio.gov
District 7 Justin Rodriguez (210) 207-7044 district7@sanantonio.gov
District 8 Diane G. Cibrian (210) 207-7086 district8@sanantonio.gov
District 9 Louis E. Rowe (210) 207-7325 district9@sanantonio.gov
District 10 John G. Clamp (210) 207-7276 district10@sanantonio.gov
If you don’t know who your councilmember is, find out here.
If you are able to, show up at City Hall tomorrow and talk to City Council about STEP. It is agenda item #5 and should be up before lunchtime. If you would like to speak, though, you have to sign up in person between 8-9 AM (114 W. Commerce). If you can’t sign up in time, come by and be there for support!
Posted in Efficiency | Tagged CPS Energy, Efficiency, Energy Efficiency, San Antonio, SEED Coalition, STEP, Texas |
Carson, California was recently on the path to becoming home to a pet-coke power plant, situated conveniently next door to the BP Carson refinery. The project, though touted as the “cleanest and greenest of energy plants possible,” would really have been an environmental and possibly a public safety nightmare. Luckily the project was scrapped, largely due to the activities of the Wilmington Coalition for a Safe Environment and other grassroots organizers.
Pet-coke, short for Petroleum Coke, is a petroleum by-product that can be burned to produce energy in a manner similar to coal. The proposed plant, which would have been built by BP America in conjunction with Edison International, would burn pet-coke as a means of producing energy — hydrogen. 90% of the carbon dioxide used would be pumped into the Wilmington oil field (This is a common method of enhanced oil recovery. The CO2 pushes the oil closer to the surface, making recovery more economic), which is a massive oil field stretching through Los Angeles county from San Pedro Bay to Long Beach. Needless to say, much of the land above this oil field is heavily populated with Los Angeles residents.
Recently I was able talk with Jesse Marquez, founder and Chief Director of Wilmington Coalition for a Safe Environment, about his victory over BP and Occidental and why this proposal was such a bad idea. Continue Reading »
Posted in Efficiency, Energy, Toxics | Tagged Air Quality, bakersfield, bp carson, california communities against toxicity, carbon capture and sequestration, Clean Energy, fire hazard, hydrogen, jesse marquez, kern county, los angeles, occidental, pet-coke, petroleum coke, refinery, Texas, wilmington coalition for a safe environment |
Original post found at Alliance for a Clean Texas.
With the deadline for House bills to pass third reading last Friday at midnight, the 81st Session entered its final phase. The good news is that seven of ACT’s high priority bills have made it to the last two weeks of the session. Here’s a run-down of the bills’ current status:
SB 545 Fraser — Passed the Senate; currently in House Committee on Energy Resources
SB 541 Watson — Passed the Senate; currently in House Committee on State Affairs
SB 546 Fraser — Passed both Senate and House
HB 280 Anchia — SB 546 is companion (HB 280 made it through House)
SB 16 Averitt — Passed the Senate; committee substitute adopted by House Committee on Environmental Regulation (5/18).
HB 1553 Burnam — Left pending in House Calendars Committee (no longer moving)
SB 184 Watson — Passed Senate; in House Committee on Environmental Regulation
HB 821 Leibowitz — Passed House; in Senate Committee on Business and Commerce
HB 300 Isett — Passed House; in Senate Committee on Transportation & Homeland Security
Posted in Efficiency, Energy, Renewables | Tagged 81st session, alliance for a clean texas, anchia, averitt, burnam, business and commerce, energy resources, environmental regulation, fraser, house, isett, leibowitz, senate, state affairs, Texas, Texas Legislature, transportation and homeland security, watson |
Buried in the language of the “Clean Energy Bank” legislation sponsored by Senate Energy Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman and Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) is a blank check to the nuclear industry.
This bill includes unlimited availability of taxpayer loan guarantees for construction of new nuclear reactors.
Unlimited guaranteed loans. As in, as many as the industry could possibly want, no matter the cost, no matter the default rate. Which for the record, is 50% according to the Congressional Budget Office.
This is one of the most audacious, nasty, pork-laden bill I have heard of in a really long time. How do they even think that they can get away with this?
Write your House member and Speaker Nancy Pelosi now. And then forward this message to everyone you can think of.
For more information on the “clean energy” bank, check out this NIRS post on Daily Kos.
Since our own Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison is encouraging lawmakers to give the nuclear industry even more money, it is more important than ever that we make sure folks on the Hill know that Not All Texans support nuclear power. Make your voice heard today!
Posted in Energy, Nuclear | Tagged clean energy bank, congressional budget office, jay inslee, jeff bingaman, kay bailey hutchinson, Loan Guarantees, nirs, nuclear industry, nuclear information and resource service, Nuclear Power, Rep. Jay Inslee, senate energy committee, Senate Energy Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman, Texas |
Over the weekend we had a little more time to look over the language in the American Clean Energy and Security Act, and have found it wanting. Check out this thoughtful statement from our Energy Program Director for the skinny on the bill and what went wrong:
Statement of Tyson Slocum, Director of the Energy Program at Public Citizen
The climate change legislation that will be debated this week is a huge disappointment. Not only will it prove a boon to energy industries, but it won’t protect consumers and may very well not even curb global warming. The first draft, penned months ago, was on track to accomplish these goals, and we applauded it as a great start. Since then, however, lawmakers have met in secret with representatives of the coal and oil industries and facilitated industry efforts to gut the bill.
The Obama administration got it right when officials released a budget that would auction 100 percent of pollution allowances. As long as pollution allowances are auctioned, the government will have the revenue necessary to mitigate energy price increases through rebates while having money to invest in the sustainable energy infrastructure we need to end our reliance on fossil fuels.
This was further reinforced by President Obama’s selection for the new chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Jon Wellinghoff, who said that “we may not need any” new nuclear or coal power plants because we have yet to harness the capacity of renewables and energy efficiency.
But the House of Representatives has not followed the administration’s lead.
When Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) released a draft climate bill in March, we praised it as a great first step but noted that it needed to be improved during the committee mark-up process.
But instead of a transparent process involving debate and voted-upon amendments, committee leadership conducted closed-door negotiations with polluters. The result: The bill was radically altered to accommodate the financial interests of big energy corporations while giving nothing new for the environment or for working families. This is hardly the transformation this country needs to jump-start its economy and curb climate change. This is more of the same old wait-and-see, special-interest-bailout approach that has gripped Washington for ages. Continue Reading »
Posted in Global Warming | Tagged auction, charlie rangel, clean energy bank, climate change, coal and oil industry, Congress, energy and commerce, energy prices, Environmental Protection Agency, ferc, fossil fuels, Global Warming, goldman sachs, highly regressive, james hansen, john wellinghoff, Obama administration, pollution allowances, Public Citizen, renewable energy, sustainable energy, temple of doom, Texas, tyson slocum, Waxman, ways and means |
It’s Monday, and that means it is time for another edition of the Texas Progressive Alliance’s weekly round-up.
At Bluedaze, TXsharon asks: What are the chances that an industry in charge of conducting its own testing to determine waste disposal methods will find toxin levels too high if that means disposal of the waste will be more costly? Landfarms: Spreading Toxic Drilling Waste on Farmland. With VIDEO.
BossKitty at TruthHugger sees lessons never learned … it is NOT about religion, ya’ll! How does it fit that US Military crusader evangelists want to save these souls right before we blow them away. How can we justify putting Mulims on death row, by their own people, just because we convinced them to become APOSTATES?! General Order Number One, Forbid Proselytizing – Evangelists Cannot Protect Murtads – Wars fought using 12th century religious mentality means that civilization has made two steps backwards!
Mean Rachel is reminded on Mother’s Day of children, the lack thereof and why The Pill should be available over the counter.
CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wants to know how can Rick Perry brag about how well Texas is doing when over 22% of our children face hunger every day?
Gary at Easter Lemming Liberal News showed a video from the Texas Freedom Network of our own Texas Department of Miseducation in action.
WhosPlayin covered the Denton County Democrats’ election of a new County Chair, after previous chairman Neil Durrance resigned to run for U.S. Congress in District 26 in 2010. Continue Reading »
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ahmed rashid, bay area houston, bluedaze, bosskitty, brains and eggs, bush administration, couldbetrue, Denton, department of education, easter lemming liberal news, eye on williamson, Gene Green, hunger, jim olson, john carter, john coby, left of college station, liberaltexan, mcblogger, mean rachel, mother's day, neil durrance, off the kuff, Pakistan, progressive activists, Rick Perry, south texas chisme, stimulus money, Texas, texas freedom network, texas kaos, texas liberal, texas progressive alliance, three wise men, toxic drilling waste, truthhugger, txsharon, unemployment insurance, wcnews, weekly roundup, whosplayin, xanthippas |
This afternoon Waxman and Markey finally formally introduced H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. Up to now, they’ve just been circulating an unofficial ‘discussion draft’, but now that we’ve got some actual language (932 pages of it), we’ve got a better idea of the bill’s specifics.
And it looks like some of the specifics are significantly watered down from the original draft, largely thanks to Texas’ own Congressmen Charlie Gonzalez and Gene Green. According to a CongressDaily article, “Waxman To Release Draft Text After Striking Late Deals,”
Eyeing the start of the bill’s markup Monday, House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman struck a deal early this morning with Texas Reps. Gene Green and Charles Gonzalez that strips out a low-carbon fuels mandate and hands out credits to petroleum refiners amounting to 2 percent of all emissions under the bill’s cap-and trade-program from 2014-26. The deal might be enough to get Green, Gonzalez and perhaps other oil-patch Democrats on board. Green called the deal “a reasonable first step to protecting our energy infrastructure and keeping good-paying jobs here at home.”
The thrust of the bill, and how it differeniates from the drafts, is as follows:
- 17% emissions cut from 2005 levels by 2020 (instead of 20%)
- giving away 85% of allowances and auctioning just 15%
Unfortunately, this kind of means that no one has to really cut their emissions for 20 years. Which is disappointing, to say the least. You can see how these allowances will allocated here.
The good news is that, though the bill is compromised… we’ve got a real carbon bill introduced! The bad news is… it isn’t nearly strong enough to create the economic revolution we need to really address the carbon crisis. Now, the bill won’t go through markup until early next week, which could mean that there is a chance it could be strengthened… but it is more likely that in order to pass the whole House, it may be weakened even more.
Heavy news for a Friday, I know. It can’t be all good news all the time. We’ll keep you updated on the status of this bill through markup.
Have hope, my friends. It ain’t over til the fat lady sings.
Posted in Global Warming | Tagged american clean energy and security act, auction, carbon crisis, Carbon Dioxide, charlie gonzalez, congressdaily, discussion draft, Gene Green, Global Warming, house energy and commerce, hr 2454, Markey, Texas, Waxman |
Check out the following statement from Common Cause railing on the energy industry for exerting undue influence over the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. I can’t say I’m surprised to hear that energy interests gave an average$107,230 in campaign contributions to Energy and Commerce committee members, nearly twice as much than any other member of the House — but I can say that I’m disappointed. When our leaders receive this kind of money from the very industries they’re supposed to regulate, you’ve got to wonder who they’re really working for. Cheers to Common Cause for not pulling any punches.
Statement of Bob Edgar, President of Common Cause, on energy industry influence on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce
As the House Committee on Energy and Commerce begins debate on a draft energy bill, an immediate and intense battle over whether this bill can pass in Congress is likely. Energy and climate change issues are high on the minds of the American people and were debated aggressively during the 2008 elections. The public demands action and deserves it.
The energy industry has already been active, though, and the American people similarly deserve to see how the industry – whose profits and future depend on decisions made in Congress, particularly the Energy and Commerce committee – has exerted tremendous influence over this debate already through targeted campaign contributions and massive lobbying expenditures.
A Common Cause analysis revealed that major energy interests contributed more than twice as much to Energy and Commerce committee members’ campaigns, on average, than to other members of Congress. Committee members received an average of $107,230 in campaign cash from the energy sector in the last election, while their non-committee counterparts collected an average of $46,539, a difference of over 130 percent.
The largest player in the energy sector, electric utilities like Southern Company and Duke Energy, had the most pronounced targeting of its campaign contributions. The average Energy and Commerce committee member received $49,495 from electric utility interests alone in the 2008 cycle, while a non-committee member received an average of $18,579, a difference of over 160 percent.
It’s an old adage that money follows power in Washington, but that refrain takes on new meaning – and potentially dangerous consequences – when the wealthy special interests are clearly poised to exert enormous influence over a decision as crucial as how to tackle energy independence, green jobs, and a warming planet. Continue Reading »
Posted in Global Warming | Tagged bod edgar, campaign contributions, center for public integrity, climate change, common cause, duke energy, energy industry, house committee on energy and commerice, southern company, special interests, Texas |
For more information on the Carbon Caps = Hard Hats campaign, check out thecapsolution.org
Posted in Global Warming | Tagged braddock PA, cap solution, carbon cap, green jobs, john fetterman, Texas |
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Dismiss talk of global warming and environmentalism if you must. But times are changing fast and, along with them, the very way we heat and cool our homes and businesses.
The Texas Senate signaled as much this week, approving a bill encouraging development of solar energy plants to generate electricity, much as the state has done in making wind an energy player in Texas and beyond.
Now it’s up to the House and Gov. Rick Perry to show similar vision for Texas.
We hope it isn’t much of a stretch. Sunshine is something we have plenty of in Texas — and we’re unlikely to run out of it anytime soon.
Passage of state Sen. Kirk Watson’s legislation, with help from Sen. Kip Averitt, R-Waco, is remarkable for a couple of reasons. For one thing, the Senate is dominated by Republicans. Watson is a Democrat.
Yet many lawmakers on both sides want to encourage the solar, geothermal and biomass energy aims in this bill. Some see the writing on the wall.
A Texas Public Utility Commission report issued Tuesday concludes that electricity prices could jump as much as $10 billion a year — $27 a month in the average electric bill — if Texans don’t anticipate looming federal greenhouse regulations aimed at cutting carbon-based fuels like natural gas and coal.
Environmentalists and lawmakers see Watson’s bill as neatly bolstering our state’s energy arsenal, especially as Texas continues to grow. Solar could help ensure energy offerings at peak times of the day, while wind will prove of greatest impact during the night hours. Continue Reading »
Posted in Energy, Renewables | Tagged democrat, environmentalism, Global Warming, kip averitt, kirk watson, PUC, republicans, Rick Perry, solar energy, Texas, texas house, texas public utility commission, texas senate, troy fraser, voter id bill, waco tribune |
As we’ve said before, there are a lot of good reasons to support a federal cap and trade bill: it would address the looming threat of global warming, create thousands of new green jobs while kick-starting a the clean energy economy, increase national security by achieving energy independence, and done right could even address long-entrenched social inequalities.
But according to a new ad campaign run by Texas Interfaith Power and Light, a vote for clean energy can also be considered “an act of faith.”
The word, according to their press release:
State religious leaders are calling on U.S. Congressman Charles Gonzalez to show leadership on clean energy legislation that Congress is set to mark up starting Thursday. With calls to Congressman Gonzalez and a San Antonio Express-News ad in his district, Texas Interfaith Power & Light is voicing the faith perspective people of faith bring to the debate over the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009.
“Texans of faith know that the care for creation and loving our neighbors go hand in hand,” the ad says, asking Congressman Gonzalez to take action on the volatile fuel prices, pollution and global warming that harm “the most vulnerable among us, particularly the poor, the elderly, minorities, and the farmers who provide food for our families.”
Kudos to Texas Interfaith Power and Light for stepping up to the plate. The greater the diversity of voices weighing in on this issue the more politicians will see that a climate change bill has far-reaching support across the population, and that there will be significant political consequences to inaction.
Posted in Global Warming | Tagged cap and trade, charlie gonzalez, Clean Energy, energy independence, Global Warming, green jobs, national security, religious leaders, san antonio express news, Texas, texas interfaith power and light |
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